We had the same dicussion, me and my boyfriend, about this kinda thing after Katrina. The idea that so many things are slip by us as potential targets. One levy breaks and half a state gets wiped out. It’s interesting when, like little points of light on a map, these things pop out at us. There’s a rocket testing facility that overlooks the San Fernando Valley. There’s a chemical/pharmaceutical company in Thousand Oaks right in the middle of 124,000 people. I can drive to several places that could be used to wipe out a significant portion of southern California. It’s depressing, actually.

What most people don’t realise is that there are attacks planned (and sometimes even partially carried out) against all these sorts of places. The FBI stops thousands of terrorist attempts every year. When I was working in an agricultural research station, a group of people planned to attack the building because they felt that agriculture was evil (we should just gather the fruits from the wild instead, and live at harmony with Nature—apparently while ignoring the fact that Nature is at the same time trying to eat us). They were arrested with all sorts of home-made explosives and weapons, tried, and put in prison. Those successes just hardly ever make the news. It’s the lapses that make headlines; how many people have heard of the twenty or so other attempted hijackings that were planned or attempted in the US on 11 September 2001 but were prevented by the FBI?

Signature

“If any man wish to write in a clear style, let him be first clear in his thoughts.”

I totally see where you’re going, logicfan, and I agree, even though you make a hella slippery slope. “And then the earth cooled” was the last time there was any peace. (Mind you, the earthquakes and storms just prior weren’t very calm either.) We try and we try, but what do we get? You can ban gel bra inserts and yogurt from an airplane and hope that everyone gets from point A to point B alive. But that only shows me that no one knows HOW to STOP terrorisim, only deal with it. (I totally acknowlege the fact that yes, the government stops a lot of stuff from happening that we don’t even know about on a daily basis.)

I don’t expect, and never have, to see the end of terrorism. Someone, somewhere, will cause some kind of strife for another human. Just refering back to the post that started this, the “I’m sure someone’s already thought of this” feel of “I bet that oil tankers and pipelines throughout the world will soon become targets of sabotage and terrorist activity.” Joe Average next door probably doesn’t think of these things, and THAT’S the point, that the average person doesn’t think about this stuff, doesn’t think it’s an issue. The dozen or so of us in this thread? That’s nothing. No one’s paying attention to the things around them, the potential. We’re all so worried about the planes because that’s what they’ve used in the past. No one’s looking at the oil rigs, etc. It’s about waking up.

Olivia, terrorism has always been here and always will be. It started when Grog the cave man cracked Orc’s skull with a Mammoth bone because Orc’s band wanted him to lead the tribe - the first use of violence or the threat of violence to further a political or social cause. (terrorism (28 C.F.R. Section 0.85) is defined as:

Olivia, terrorism has always been here and always will be. It started when Grog the cave man cracked Orc’s skull with a Mammoth bone because Orc’s band wanted him to lead the tribe - the first use of violence or the threat of violence to further a political or social cause. (terrorism (28 C.F.R. Section 0.85) is defined as:

Oh, the thongs are funny! But to back to things - are we forgetting to include the abortion clinic bombings, etc, of the ‘80’s and 90’s in the account of domestic terrorism? How about the Oklahoma City bombing, or anthrax-laced mail? No agenda here, but we must not forget.

To be quite honest, I HADNT thought of the threat of oil bombings and the like, and personally, I think I am with the majority. The thing is, you can’t secondguess terrorists without the secondguessing you, kindof. As someone has said before, it’s all about the element of surprise. These guys may go for a less obvious target because there is less security and such, or they may go for the so called obvious option as noone will expect them to do so - security is too tight, so why would the terrorists attempt to bomb planes again? or whatever. However, I am a meek underling who knows not much about a few things. I like reading everyones responses though, everyone seems to have thought over their opinions etc alot before answering and stuff.

You’re right, Dan Jr. No resolve of the anthrax letters cases, yet. Much ado and overtime, much cleanup, and of course the copycat bozos who mail cornstarch with a threatening note to this day. We got one in my office about three years ago. The secretary who opened it had to be rushed to the hospital for chest pains, besides precautionary decontamination. Cops got the jerk who did it a couple days later. Idiot had signed his real name on the threat-note to his caseworker. But clerical workers at the front desk open all the office mail. He ended up going to a State psych hospital, I think. Off-topic, well just a little - We just got back from seeing Oliver Stone’s ‘World Trade Center’. Highly recommend (tho def not for kids). Suggest don’t wait for the DVD, it’s worth the five or so bucks to see this one on the big-screen. If you’re human, take a couple tissues. If you’re an American, take a couple more.

To be quite honest, I HADNT thought of the threat of oil bombings and the like, and personally, I think I am with the majority. The thing is, you can’t secondguess terrorists without the secondguessing you, kindof. As someone has said before, it’s all about the element of surprise. These guys may go for a less obvious target because there is less security and such, or they may go for the so called obvious option as noone will expect them to do so - security is too tight, so why would the terrorists attempt to bomb planes again? or whatever. However, I am a meek underling who knows not much about a few things. I like reading everyones responses though, everyone seems to have thought over their opinions etc alot before answering and stuff.

You know, Thundy, for a young woman of 17 (are you 18 yet?) you are incredibly sharp and wise.

Actually, for anyone of any age, you do pretty good. You think you will be Prime Minister someday? If so, can I be your overpaid but respected adviser on chocolate or something?